A Flower In The Snow
by KinshuTsukino
Summary: Alternate Universe - What if Hermione had stayed and tried to help heal Severus after Nagini's bite instead of trying to run away?  What if they became good friends?  What if Ron screwed up?  And what if Severus was the only one she could turn to?
1. Preface

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and all the characters included. The only thing I own is the idea for the alternate universe and all the stuff that happens…that's it…nothing else…so please don't sue me.

Author's Note: Please note that this is the first fanfiction that I've written in a very long time. So, I will please ask this once and only once that there be no flaming of my work. Flaming is rude and uncalled for and it will not be tolerated. So, unless you have something nice or actually critical to say, then please take it elsewhere. Thank you, and happy reading! 3

Preface

Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach as she heard that hissing voice say something that made Professor Snape scream. That scream was all that she heard before she heard a horrible thud noise that was Severus Snape falling to the ground, a pool of blood streaming from his neck. Severus Snape was dieing.

After Harry had moved the crate blocking their way into the room, Hermione followed him in. The scene before her made tears fall down her face.

Snape was on his back trying to stop the bleeding, a pool of blood forming around his head like a morbid halo. Both Harry and Hermione went to their knees next to the dieing man.

Hermione breathed out, "What do we do, Harry?"

"I'm not sure," he responded, his voice choking at every word.

Snape's eyes opened and his gaze passed between Hermione and Harry. He moved to grab at Harry's robes but Hermione stopped him, "Don't move, sir! We need to stop this bleeding…" her voice trailed off, a sob erupting from her lips.

Harry looked down at Snape's face before looking back at Ron, "Ron, you need to find Madam Pomfrey right away and get her down here now!"

Ron, looking white as a ghost, nodded before running away toward the hospital wing.

Snape tried to speak again but Hermione covered his mouth with her hand, stopping him from speaking. She would have told him to stay quiet, but she had her wand in hand pointing it at his neck, muttering healing spells in an attempt to stop or at least slow the bleeding from the gaping bite marks on his neck.

The last thing that Severus Snape saw was Hermione's crying face before everything became fuzzy and dark.


	2. Five Years Can Change You

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does.

Chapter 1 – Five Years Can Change You

Severus walked through the darkened halls of the Hogwarts' dungeons, wand tip lit so as to make sure he didn't walk into any walls or rule breaking students. His traditional black billowing robes flowed around him as he walked. The only bright noticeable difference about his normal attire was the small silver colored ring on his left ring finger.

Five years had passed since his near death experience. If it weren't for his neck high robes the horrible scar from Nagini's bite would have been rather visible even in the dim light of his wand. It was mostly healed by now but it still ached with pain every so often.

All that could be heard was Severus' footsteps on the stone floor of the dungeons. Everything else seemed very quiet. Exhausted from a full day of teaching first year students how not to blow up their potions in their faces, Severus decided to head back to his rooms and turn in for the night.

He made a few turns while walking down the hallways and made it back to his classroom. From his classroom he went into his office and from his office he passed through the hidden door behind one of his bookcases and made it back to his room – his safe house.

The room was decorated rather warmly these days. Six or seven years ago, his rooms would be filled with silver, green and black. But these days it had some dark blues and reds added to the green, silver and black in such a way that it managed to blend itself well without looking horrible. His bed was a four-poster bed with dark blue drapes and bedding that was black. In the last several years he realized that having the green drapes, for some reason, tended to cause him horrible nightmares so he changed them to the blue that they were now.

Upon entering his rooms he realized that not only was a midnight snack prepared nicely for him by the house elves but there was a black tawny owl sitting on one of his two dining chairs at his small dining table with a letter attached to its foot. Recognizing the seal, he hastily removed it from the owl before giving it a bite of bread from his midnight snack dish. Opening the letter, he began to read:

_Dear Severus,_

_ How are you? We haven't spoken for a long time. I'm really sorry that my work has prevented me from visiting you more often. I promise that the next time we see each other we can spend a lot more time with each other. I'll be taking some time off from work starting next week. My boss tells me that I need to get out of the Ministry for a while and "take a breather already". I suppose I work too hard…then again, you've known that since we first met._

_ I'll come by next week Friday evening. I will make it there before the feast, but would you like to eat in your room instead? I miss you, Sev._

_ I'll see you very soon._

_With Love,_

Hermione

A small smile crossed Severus' face, "Rushed letter as usual. She needs to stop working so hard."

Neatly folding the letter, he set to work to writing out his response:

_Dear Hermione,_

_ I'm fine. I agree with your superior: you DO need to stop and breathe for a little while. I'll be waiting for you on Friday. Christmas holiday is starting that Friday so I'll be free. I hope your vacation is a long one this time. I miss you too, Hermione._

_Love,_

Severus

Quickly folding up the parchment and sliding it into and envelope, Severus attached the reply to the owl, fed it once more and then sent it off back to the Ministry. After the owl was out of sight, Severus allowed himself a full smile. It had been a long time since he and Hermione got to spend some time together. The only contact that they've had since school started around two months ago was by owl if you don't count the time when she came to visit him for a day about five weeks ago.

A lot had happened in the last five years. Hermione had a wonderful job in the Ministry of Magic and Severus had his old Potions Master job back with Minerva as Headmaster of Hogwarts. He was truly proud of Hermione but she really did work herself too hard.

Around two years ago, Hermione had a nasty falling out with Ron Weasley. She had caught him cheating on her. During the year that followed, Hermione had become rather close to Severus, who had stayed in contact with her since the fall of Lord Voldemort. Outside of her usual group of friends, Severus was the only person who kept constant contact with her.

At first, it was from an effort to apologize for all the years that he tortured her throughout school and to apologize for everything that had happened because of his actions. It was also filled with profound thank yous from when she helped to keep him alive. If it weren't for Hermione, he would not have survived that horrible night.

A year ago, they decided that they wanted to try being together. No one really approved but no one had the balls to come out against their relationship either. During the small one-day visit from Hermione five weeks ago, Hermione had given Severus something that Muggles tend to call a "promise ring". Severus almost refused because if they were to ever tie that particular knot, he wanted to be the one to initiate it. But she had made it very clear that it wasn't an engagement, more of an exterior way to show that they were taken. He rather enjoyed that idea since Hermione had one too so that made him feel better about her being away from him for such long periods of time.

In these last five years, Severus had changed a lot. He still loved to bully his students like he always had but his outlook on life had changed since that night. Life was something precious, something to be treasured and not taken for granted. Some would say that he had become a better man.

Severus sat down to eat his midnight snack before pausing, "…I wonder if she realizes what time of the year it is?"

Shaking his head at the work-a-holic that he dared to call his girlfriend and continued to eat his bread and cheese in happy silence.


	3. A Bridge Of Memories

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter! Harry Potter is J.K. Rowling's world! Not mine!

Chapter 2 – A Bridge Of Memories

Severus glanced at the clock on his mantle for what seemed like the fiftieth time in the last five minutes. Hermione would be there in about ten minutes. He continued to tap his foot impatiently on the floor. Sitting back in his armchair, he closed his eyes and began to think. And thinking led him to think on the memories of what had happened after that horrible night…

Five years ago…

_The light was the first thing that he could remember when he woke up. It was almost like he was being born. The bright light was so intense…_

_ Severus blinked a few times before a shape in the middle of the light began to make sense – it was Harry Potter._

_ Groaning, Severus attempted to speak, but Harry stopped him, "Sir, you shouldn't speak. Your throat is still healing."_

_ Harry looked highly troubled. He turned his face away and glared at something that Severus couldn't see, "…I don't know why we're helping you right now. You betrayed us. You will probably end up in Azkaban once you're done healing and-"_

_ He was cut off as Severus quickly grabbed Harry's arm and forced out the words that were rough like sandpaper, "P…Potter…wand…memory…" he released Harry from his vice-like grip and put his finger to his head._

_ Harry looked confused but seemed to understand after a few moments. After taking out his wand, Harry tentatively handed it to Severus who pointed it to his head, and took out a silvery almost gas-like strand that was a memory. Harry looked around and found some vials. He grabbed at one before hearing Severus's voice, "You…more than…o-one."_

_ So, Harry grabbed a whole handful of the vials. Upon returning, Severus grabbed at one of the vials and immediately put the memory into it. This continued until there was something of a small collection of Severus's memories in vials on a stand. Severus attempted to speak again, "Head…Master…p-pens-" Harry stopped him by holding up his hand and gave a hard look at his old Potions Professor, "Don't talk. I'll go to Professor McGonagall right away."_

And with that, Harry turned his back on Severus and left him in the bright empty space of the Hospital Wing.

Severus opened his eyes and frowned. Potter had forgiven him and had felt terribly guilty ever since that day in the Hospital Wing. Knowing what Harry knew now tore him apart inside. Ever since that day, Harry wrote a letter to Severus every year on October 31st, the anniversary of his parent's death, and apologized. He would apologize up and down and sideways about how horrible he felt for everything wrong that ever happened since they had known each other. And after every apologetic letter that Severus had received from the boy, he would respond by telling him that he forgave him. After all - the boy had helped to save his life.

Aside from Harry learning the truth about Severus and his intentions, Professor-now-Headmistress McGonagall had also seen the many memories of Severus's past through the pensieve. After some court trials with the Wizangamot, Severus was cleared of all and any charges that were set against him.

Frowning, Severus stretched more in his chair, setting his arms on the armrests and closed his eyes once more…

Two years ago…

_Suddenly there was a loud banging noise on his office door. Severus looked up from his massive amount of essays that he had been grading and grumbled, "Either come in or leave me alone."_

_ The last person that Severus had expected to see this day happened to be standing in his door way, drenched with rain and what seemed like extra moisture around her red rimmed and slightly baggy eyes. Severus stood up from his desk, a look of shock replacing the look of distaste that had once been on his face when he thought that a student had been knocking, "Ms. Granger? What –"_

_ "He cheated on me," Hermione cut him off, her voice shaky but firm._

_ Severus dropped the quill that he had been holding; he had been shocked into silence. He slowly moved to be in front of his desk, long black robes hanging on his body like bat wings. Hermione looked up at him, "I…I decided to come to you. Ron went to Harry so, I-I…I don't-"_

_ Suddenly, Hermione had found herself in Severus's arms, her face up against his chest, one of his hands at the middle of her back and the other at the back of her head. He was whispering what sounded like comforting words softly in her ear._

She wept.

Severus opened his eyes and frowned, his eyebrows knitting together. He hated that particular memory. True, it was the moment that brought them together as close friends and eventually as a couple, but he hated that she had to suffer so much before becoming happy again.

After that day when Hermione caught Ron with that knit-twit Lavender, snogging in what was Hermione and Ron's bed, she packed up a simple suitcase with her clothes and left. She has still not spoken to the Weasley boy since that day.

The clock on Severus's mantle chimed softly letting him know that six in the evening was finally there. Hermione was supposed to be there by now.

Severus stood up and stretched. He seriously hated that Hermione had this effect on him; making him anticipate her arrival and distracting him from his work. He had a huge backlog of essays to grade on the theory of why the Wolfsbane Potion was necessary in the Wizarding World. He could have gotten a good chunk graded today but he had been too excited to sit down and focus on anything.

While pacing around the small living room in his chambers, he stopped to look at his left hand. The small silver ring shined a little bit in the soft candlelight that lit up the room. The smallest of smiles danced across his lips as he remembered five weeks ago.

Five weeks ago…

_ Hermione was cleaning up the dinner plates, taking them to the small sink area against the wall near the small dining table. Severus grumbled softly, "The house elves will take care of it. You needn't bother yourself."_

_ "Severus," Hermione sounded annoyed and disappointed, "you should know how I feel about the labor of house elves by now."_

_ All that came, as a reply was a simple, "Hnn."_

_ This sent up a red flag, "Severus, what's wrong?"_

_ Silence._

_ She put the dirty plates into the sink, washed her hands then proceeded to sit herself next to Severus at his left side on the small dark green velvet couch. Severus was sitting hunched over with his elbows on his knees and his chin perched on his balled up fists, his face with a look of seriousness and…sadness? He wore his usual black robes that hugged his slender form. The fire that burned in the hearth made his usually very pale skin seem like it had an unearthly glow._

_Placing a gentle hand on his left bicep she almost silently whispered, "Please tell me what's wrong?"_

_ Without moving his head, Severus moved his obsidian eyes to gaze into Hermione's chocolate ones. After a pause that seemed like a century, Severus sat up straight and turned so that he was facing the object of his affection more directly. His voice was strained, "Please answer me truthfully, Hermione. Do you really want to be with me?"_

_ Hermione's eyes widened, her mouth fell open a little and her eyebrows came together causing a confused yet almost upset look, "Why on earth are you asking me this?"_

_ "Because," he swallowed; his mouth felt so dry, "we rarely get to see each other, we are both still fighting with our own personal demons…and from what I understand, the Ministry doesn't look too highly on our relationship."_

_ Hermione sighed, a small smile on her face. She looked up with that small smile, causing Severus to raise an eyebrow, "You should know by now," she took both of Severus's somewhat large hands in her rather small ones and her smile grew, her eyes sparkling, "We both help each other all the time whenever we need each other in our times of need. The Ministry's opinion on who I decide to date doesn't matter to me."_

_ Severus frowned a little bit more, "What about the serious lack of time with each other?"_

_ Hermione's smile stayed where it was, "I have a small plan. I don't know if it will work, but if it does then we'll be able to spend a whole lot more time together."_

_ Something that seemed like hope fluttered across Severus's face, "I know how you are so I wont ask details but," he paused and then gave Hermione's hands a small squeeze, "what do you mean by 'a whole lot more time together'?"_

_ "I mean," she had to hold back a small giggle, "that I'll be visiting more often. For now, that's all that I'm willing to share," Hermione moved to lean her head on Severus's shoulder._

_ Severus automatically moved to put his arms around her torso and held her so that her back was to his chest. He breathed in her scent before continuing in a lighter sounding tone, "I'm sorry that I'm being such a fool about this."_

_ Hermione put her hands over his, which were placed over her stomach, "Oh, don't worry yourself about it," at the same time as she spoke, she slipped something cold and metallic over his left ring finger; such a smooth movement that he almost didn't notice it._

_ After seeing what it was, he raised an eyebrow, "What, exactly, are you playing at, love?"_

_ Giggling lightly, Hermione moved her head so she could gaze up into Severus's face, "Just letting people know that you're taken. Nothing more," innocence shone in her eyes._

Severus rewarded his affectionate bushy haired paramour with a small squeeze of a hug before drifting off. They were both tired, apparently, since right before Severus drifted off into dreamland, Hermione could be heard snoring softly, half her face resting against his chest.

Severus was brought out of his reverie when his fireplace suddenly glowed green with flames and out of the green flames came the one and only person that he would ever favor with a true and genuine smile.


	4. The Flowers In The Snow

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter, not me.

Chapter 3 – The Flowers In The Snow

Before any kind of coherent thought could cross Severus's mind, he found himself in a very hard embrace, "Severus," Hermione sounded odd to him, "Severus…"

Already having automatically wrapped his arms around her small frame, Severus looked down at the top of the bushy hair that belonged to her who he dared to call his everything. He moved one of his hands to bring a finger under her chin to make her face him. What he saw made the gentle smile turn to genuine concern.

Tears were falling down her face. Her hair looked strikingly similar to how it looked when she was a child. Her robes looked like she had just tossed them on haphazardly. Severus immediately lowered his face to hers and gave her a small and gentle kiss upon her lips.

After some moments that didn't seem to last long enough (they never seemed to last long enough) Severus pulled away and proceeded to cup her face between his hands, "Hermione," his voice was a whisper; he always felt that if he were to speak too loudly when she became like this that she would shatter into pieces, "what happened?"

She closed her eyes and let out a strained sob. To him, it was painfully obvious that she was trying far too hard to hold back her sorrow. He put his hand that had been cupping her face to be on the back of her head and hugged her close to him, "Shhh," he murmured into her hair, "just let it out, Hermione."

And let it out she did. The next almost two hours were spent with Severus holding her on the green velvet couch, stroking her hair, rubbing her back and whispering comforting things into her ears. Finally, she calmed down enough that she just started talking without being prompted, "The Ministry sacked me."

Severus involuntarily hugged her even closer to his being. Hermione continued, voice shaky, "The Minister just…told me that my holiday would be permanent from the Ministry and told me to pack my things and go…"

Her voice trailed off. Severus's eyes narrowed, "And why," his voice was like deadly velvet, "did they feel the need to let go one of their best and brightest employees?"

She shook her head, refusing to answer. This confirmed Severus's fears, "Hermione," he paused, thinking on his next words very carefully, "did I have anything to do with this?"

The shudder that traveled throughout her body gave the answer that Severus damned. He had been the cause of her being fired. Suddenly, Hermione sat up, her look of despair and sadness replaced by a look of absolute fury, "I can't believe that they still don't trust you!"

Standing up, she began pacing, "They've seen the memories! They know that they are real! They know that you did everything under orders from Dumbledore and yet they still point a finger at your back making you out to be someone who can't be trusted! So now, I get fired because I wanted to be with you and because I love you and –" she was cut off as Severus stood up and blocked her pacing path in his small living room.

He grabbed her by the shoulders gently but firmly and said in a silky voice, "You need to stop. You need to stop or you will end up hurting yourself."

Unknown to Hermione, while she had been pacing she was waving her arms around. Her emotional state, being what it was, had almost caused her arm waving to make his books and vials on his shelves to go flying around the room. As it was, they were shaking very violently.

"Hermione," his voice was slow and calming but also demanding, "calm," his thumbs gently rubbed her shoulders, "down."

Taking in a breath and after slowly letting it seep out of her mouth in what sounded like a hiss, she closed her eyes and hung her head, "I can't believe I'm jobless…"

Severus pulled her into an embrace, "It's not the end of the world," he pulled away slightly, just enough so that they could look at each other's faces, "where will you live until you find another job?"

Hermione paused and her face became red with embarrassment, "Well…" she paused again, dared a glance into obsidian eyes and then back to the floor, "my trunk and bags are already in your bedroom…"

Eyebrow raised, Severus took a step backwards and proceeded to fold his arms across his chest, a small frown on his face. She absentmindedly began to twirl some hair around her right index finger, "I tried to tell Headmaster McGonagall that it was alright and that I could just take over an empty classroom or something but she said that you wouldn't mind if I stayed with you instead and she just…had the house elves bring my things to your room," she said it all in one breath; her eyes looking up at the ceiling, avoiding Severus's gaze.

If it had been anyone but Hermione, he would have been livid. Instead he stepped toward his silly little bushy-haired Gryffindor and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. Without another word, he headed into the bedroom to unpack her things for her.

Looking at his retreating form, Hermione couldn't help but think back on the events of just one year ago.

One year ago…

_ Snow was falling on the ground around her. She felt this before but it was much stronger this time. This pain that engulfed her heart and wouldn't loosen its vice-like grip on her very soul. It would be something else if she knew that she could compete with that woman for his affection…but she knew, deep down in the depths of her heart she knew that she could never compete and she had no hope of ever trying to. Lily Evans was dead and Severus obviously still loved her._

_ Silent tears fell down her face as she sat with her back against a tree. Snowflakes were getting stuck in her hair but she didn't care. She hoped that the cold from the snow would make the pain in her chest go away…but it did not._

_ Hermione probably wouldn't have felt so horrible if she hadn't seen what she had seen. She had come to visit Hogwarts over Christmas break to see Severus but the first thing she saw was him, reading a letter that had been given to him by Lily Evans so many years ago. It shocked her when she realized that it made her jealous and upset to see him like that. It really shook her to realize that she had feelings for her old Potions Master. Confused on what this meant caused Hermione to turn back around and leave the school._

_ However, she obviously didn't make it very far away from the school. She made it as far as this tree before collapsing at the base, sobbing._

_ It made no sense to her. Why on earth did she feel this way? The pain had begun to grow and it was still growing even now as she sat there, unmoving from the base of the tree._

_ She cared for him, which was obvious enough. She would even go so far as to say that she liked him in the romantic sense. But why on earth would she feel this much pain in seeing Severus gazing at a letter?_

_ 'Because of his face.'_

_ Her eyes looked up to the sky, snow fell on her face, "I…" she blinked and fresh hot tears fell down her cheeks, "I can't feel this way…impossible…"_

_ She rested her head against the tree, eyes still gazing up at the sky. It was a long time before Hermione realized that she was not alone next to this tree._

_ On the opposite side of the tree sat Severus, sitting with one knee bent with his right arm resting on it. He spoke softly, "What brings you here, Ms. Granger?"_

_ She sniffed a bit and tried to wipe the tears from her eyes, "I, um, I'm here to see you. It's Christmas after all. I thought we could exchange gifts," she tried to make her voice sound cheerful, but she failed miserably._

_ "Ms. Granger," his voice had a hint of delight but it was clouded over with Severus's usual drawling tone, "you know that you don't have to do this every year now. It's unnecessary."_

_ There was a long pause between the two. Wind was the only sound that could be heard for several minutes before Hermione broke the silence, "Have you ever loved anyone since Lily, Severus?"_

_ The informal usage of his name shocked him. He had never heard Hermione use his first name before. Quickly recovering from the shock of hearing his name and the content of the question, he simply answered, "No."_

_ She swallowed hard before asking her next question. It was an uncomfortable silence while she tried to collect herself, "Do you think," her cheeks turned a soft pink color, "that you could ever love anyone again?"_

_ The only thing that Hermione heard in response was Severus's stiff and almost hurt sounding voice, "What do you mean by that, Ms. Granger?"_

_ She swallowed again, "What I mean to say," she slowly took in air before continuing as coherently as possible, "is…is…" her eyes widened at the realization: she was unable to say how she felt._

_ No words could describe her feelings._

_ Severus growled in annoyance. She stood up and walked around the tree to where Severus sat. She knelt down in front of him. He could easily see that she had been crying out here in the snow for a very long time. His trademark scowl that had always seemed immovable from his face melted away at the sight of her face._

_ "Sir, I-"_

_ "Say it again," he cut her off with that small demand in the softest of whispers._

_ Hermione's eyebrows knit together in confusion, "What?"_

_ "My name, Ms. Gr-…Hermione. My name. Say it again," if she didn't know any better, she would think that he was begging._

_ She gazed with her warm chocolate eyes into Severus's black obsidian eyes, "Severus."_

_ Right after she uttered his beautiful name, she realized that Severus had been slowly moving his hands out to caress her face. Surprisingly enough, even with it being so cold outside, his hands were comfortably warm on her cold skin. She froze in place, 'What is he doing?'_

_ The next thing that happened shocked the both of them. He slowly leaned forward and very slowly and very gently placed his mouth on hers in a very soft but passionate kiss. For the both of them, the world seemed to stop._

_ By the time the kiss had ended, Hermione's hands had found them entwined in Severus's surprisingly soft and silky hair and Severus had one hand on the back of her head, fingers entwined in her curls, and one caressing her neck and jaw line. They were like that, gazing into each other's eyes for what seemed like an eternity. It wasn't until a sweet smell filled the air around them did they manage to pull their eyes away from each other. What they saw around them was nothing short of magical._

Wild flowers of every color had sprouted and bloomed right out of the snow around them for as far as the eye could see.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione shook her head, a small yet very happy smile on her face, and went into the bedroom to help Severus to unpack her things.


	5. A Light Within The Darkness

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is the wonderful person who owns Harry Potter and all the characters, not me. I only invented the situations.

Author's Note: Thank you everyone so much for your reviews! I would just like to remind everyone that you can feel free to criticize my work so long as it's intelligent criticism. I actually highly encourage criticism and ideas that you may have so that I can help give you guys what you want. I don't have anything too rock solid as far as the main content and some side conflicts that may ensue so I highly encourage you all to give me your thoughts on my story. Again, thank you so much for all of your kind reviews! It makes me happy that what I have written isn't rubbish. I hope you all enjoy the next chapter!

Important Note: I have no idea how often I will be updating. It will vary greatly due to the fact that I'm a university college student in my senior year. Many of my classes demand that I write papers and my job takes up a lot of my time. I will write as much as I possibly can. Do not worry about me losing interest in this story for this story has been many years in the story-planning process. With the premiere of Deathly Hallows coming out and with me being as big of a fan of Severus as I am, this story WILL continue on and it will be quite long. Thank you so much and I hope you enjoy what happens next!

Chapter 4 – A Light Within The Darkness

Upon entering Severus's bedroom, the first thing that caught her eye wasn't the beautiful mixture of Slytherin and Gryffindor colors that somehow fit together in the décor but it was the rather nice scene that she found before her. Severus was seated on the edge of the bed with Crookshanks on his lap. Severus had his left hand stroking the cat's soft fur while the right hand was behind him on the bed so he could lean back a little without falling over. Somewhat loud purring sounds could be heard from the doorway.

Leaning against the doorframe, Hermione crossed her arms and smiled at the scene before her. Severus looked up and immediately put Crookshanks on the bed and stood up, "It appears that the house elves already sorted your things and put them away," his voice was calm and collected, very reminiscent to the years when he was her teacher and not her…very special someone.

She walked over to Severus and was about to start lecturing him for the umpteenth time about how she felt about house elves doing all the work around the castle when there was a knock on the main door into Severus's private chambers. Hermione stepped aside to pick up Crookshanks as Severus walked around her and into the main room to open the door.

"Severus!"

Hermione froze at the sound of the familiar voice as she tightened her grip on her cat. Only one name flew into her head: Lucius Malfoy. She allowed Crookshanks to jump to the floor as fear overtook her. As silently as she could, Hermione quickly took off her winter coat that she had been wearing, put it on the end of the bed and attempted to find a hiding place.

She knew that Severus and Malfoy had continued their friendship but she would go out of her way to do anything and everything that she could to make sure that she never had any kind of contact with the horrible man. Every time she would look at Malfoy her body would involuntarily shake and she'd end up sick in the bathroom from the memories she had at Malfoy Manor. After looking around the bedroom as quickly and quietly as she could, she found that the wardrobe had a ton of space in it. So, she climbed into it and closed the door quietly and simply pointed her wand at the wardrobe doorknob and locked it without saying a word.

Her fear stemmed mostly because Lucius had been there when his sister-in-law, Bellatrix Lastrange, had tortured her. Sure, he hadn't been the one holding the wand, but he didn't do anything to help her at the time either.

Severus stepped aside and let the tall blonde in, "It's been a long time, Lucius. What brings you here?"

Lucius looked just like his old self: very ornate robes that looked like they were made from the finest combination of silk and velvet and his hair looked as if there were no imperfections. Holding his head high and looking around, he drawled out, "I just thought I'd come by and see how things were treating you. Are you staying here for Christmas, Severus?"

Running a hand though his dark silky curtains of hair, Severus turned around and began reorganizing one of his bookshelves, "Yes, I probably will spend some of my time here. Since there are virtually no students in the castle I thought I would go back to Spinner's End for a bit of the holiday as well."

Lucius made a small noise that obviously meant that he thought it was a stupid idea, "Severus, why won't you ever accept my invitations to come stay at my manor during these school holidays? It can't be healthy, staying by yourself all the time in that…cozy little place."

Severus continued to move around his books and replied smoothly, "And what, pray tell, gave you the impression that I spend my holidays alone?"

Something resembling a small laugh escaped Lucius's mouth, "Alright then, who do you spend your time with these days?" Severus turned around to face Lucius as he continued; "I can't imagine that you have any friends these days. Word has it that the ministry still doesn't trust you completely."

It took a lot for Severus to not toss Lucius out of his personal chambers, "Lucius, who I share my time with is none of your business."

Lucius took a few steps forward to stand right in front of Severus with only a few inches between them, "That might be so, old friend, but you do a very poor job at hiding what kind of relationships you tend to hold these days," Lucius took Severus's left hand into his right one and a malicious smirk crossed his face.

A look something like horrified fury took over Severus's features. He knew how much Hermione feared and hated Lucius Malfoy and had Severus promise that he wouldn't let Lucius know that they were together. At least, she didn't want him to know until she felt more comfortable being around Lucius, which would probably take a long time to achieve.

Severus stared into Lucius's grey eyes with his black tunnel-like ones and softly hissed with rage dripping from every word, "Get. Out."

A frown graced across Lucius's lips, "Excuse me, Severus?"

Grabbing the front of Lucius's robes, Severus stormed forward, opened the main door to his private chambers and tossed Lucius out into the hallway. What came from Severus's mouth sounded like venom, "You will remember this well: who I spend my time with and who I decide to trust these days are none of your business. I would suggest that you not come here again on a whim."

Lucius wore a scowl on his face before it formed into a knowing grin, "Ah ha…I see. You're protecting someone and I think that I may know who it is."

There was a loud bang as Severus slammed the door in Lucius's face, locking it tightly. Turning, Severus leaned his back up against the door and heard Lucius's voice through the solid wood, "It's that Mudblood, Granger, isn't it? I know she got sacked today from the ministry. Nothing happens in our government without me knowing about it, Severus. You should know that by now," his tone sounded very knowing yet malicious.

Back in the wardrobe, Hermione had her hand over her mouth, a look of shock crossing her face. Her body was shaking like a leaf in the wind and she sat with her knees to her chest, wand in her right hand. She had heard everything.

The last thing that Hermione had expected to happen was Severus throwing out his best friend because of her. Sure, she and Severus had been dating for a year but in that time they had only really spent maybe a grand total of a month of being in each other's physical presence. Her job was so demanding and Severus had to stay at the school since he was a full time teacher that it made visiting with each other extremely difficult. Usually, they could only see each other a few days once a month.

Coming to the realization that she had been neglecting Severus in favor of her work horrified her. It sickened Hermione to her stomach knowing that she had been so careless with her first really serious relationship. Feeling guilty and ashamed, she buried her face into her knees making her look like a small scared child. It was in this way that Severus found her.

After Lucius was literally thrown out, Severus sighed and walked back into the bedroom, "Hermione, I'm really sorry about that," his voice was apologetic.

He stopped in mid-stride as he realized that all that was left in the room of Hermione was her winter coat at the foot of the bed. His voice sounded fearful, "Hermione?"

Panicking, he started to search around the room. He looked under the bed, in the dark corners of the room, and the bathroom. It wasn't until he was standing in the center of his overturned bedroom silently telling himself to calm down that he heard some small sounds that sounded all too familiar to him.

Listening for a few seconds longer, Severus pinpointed where the noise was coming from. He very slowly approached the wardrobe and quietly placed both hands, palm open, on the dark wood of the door and spoke quietly, concern and worry laced heavily in his voice, "Hermione…dearest, are you in there?" the only response was a strangled sounding sob.

Filled with guilt for not realizing that she had been in the wardrobe this whole time, he rested his forehead on the wooden door, "May I open the door?" his voice was filled with strain.

All that he could hear in response was a very tiny sob that sounded like, "I'm sorry."

Severus immediately, but slowly, opened the wardrobe door with a soft creak. Hermione was curled into a ball that reminded Severus of himself when he was a small boy. He knelt down so that he could be relatively the same size as his very small and obviously hurt loved one. A gentle hand slowly rested on the top of Hermione's head followed by Severus's soft but worried voice, "Can you come out or do you need help?"

The only response he received was a painful sounding sob accompanied by a violent shudder that spread through Hermione's entire small frame. Therefore, Severus reached into the wardrobe slowly, gathering his precious treasure up as if she were made of glass and bringing her small frame close to his larger one. Severus rested his chin on top of Hermione's head and proceeded to cradle her in his arms in a very protective nature. He remembered that when he was a child the one and only thing that he wished that he'd had was someone to hold him just like this. Someone to comfort him and tell him that everything would be all right.

Once Hermione was pressed against Severus's chest, she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed into his neck. Severus had to hold back a hiss of pain, not necessarily from physical pain but just from the fact that since his neck had healed enough that he didn't need bandages anymore, no one had touched his neck aside from himself. He squeezed his eyes shut, expecting there to be physical pain but none came. Matter of fact, the sensation that he felt was something akin to comfort. Her warm breath and the soft feel of her skin left him feeling warm inside.

Once Hermione calmed down and became mostly still and silent, she nuzzled gently into the crook of Severus's neck before speaking in a raspy whisper, "I'm so sorry, Sev."

Severus's eyebrows knitted together in confusion and looked down to see Hermione looking up at him, "Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything wrong."

Hermione's bushy hair shook wildly as she shook her head, "Yes, I have," she swallowed hard, "I've been neglecting you. We haven't been able to visit each other that often since we started seeing each other and it's my fault!"

At these words, Severus looked hurt, "Hermione…"

He squeezed her closer to him and proceeded to bury his face in her hair, whispering, "Please don't blame yourself for that."

Deeply breathing in Severus's scent, Hermione snuggled up to him, sighing softly, "I'm sorry, Severus. I just," she paused momentarily, a little bit scared of what his reaction would be once she spoke again, "I felt like I was neglecting you. I felt like I was acting just like everyone else in your life. I don't want to be just another person that gets close to you and then abandons you or treats you like you don't matter because you do matter," she pulled away just enough so that she could make eye contact Severus, "you mean a lot to me," she broke eye contact and focused her eyes on one of Severus's buttons on the chest of his black robes, "and I know that I can't ever measure up to Lily-" Severus violently twitched.

Tears welled up in Severus's eyes. He continued to look down at Hermione's face, his voice filled with sorrow and perhaps…a hint of hope, "Hermione…please…don't…"

Feeling a dark pit of fear and regret forming in her stomach, Hermione attempted to pull away completely but found that she was unable to move from where she was. Severus had his arms locked and seemed to have an inhuman hold on Hermione's body. His eyes, which were usually like dark tunnels seemed to ooze with emotion that Hermione had only ever seen once – that time in the snowy flower field. Hermione's face became contorted with confusion; was she wrong about her assumption on Severus's true feelings?

Severus used his left hand to raise Hermione's face so that she was looking at him again. What she saw in his face scared her.

His eyes were moist and tears were rolling down his face, skin was paler than usual and his facial expression made him look like he was lost, "Hermione," his voice was soft and low yet strained from holding back most of his emotions, "You are right…but you are wrong as well."

Confusion simply turned into deeper confusion. Severus read her face and eyes like an open picture book so he continued, his voice filled with all the emotion that he wished he could express, "Lily was my everything for most of my life, Hermione, you must understand this. She was the love of my life. I never stopped thinking about her…until a year ago," Severus's lost expression slowly turned into one of affection even though tears were still spilling from those black pools, "you might not realize it, Hermione, but you're saving me. You're saving me from myself. If I didn't have you, I don't think I would be able to live with myself," he let go of Hermione's frame and instead took a hold of her left hand with his right and used his left to caress her face as he continued with that foreign emotional tone, "You make me feel whole again. I haven't felt anything similar to this since I was a boy. This is something more. This became something more than what I've ever had before."

Hermione heard a great sadness fill his voice, "It's true that I'm not free of my feelings for Lily…honestly, I don't think I ever will be completely free, " he gently stroked her face with his thumb, "and I apologize for that. I'm broken, Hermione. I'm broken and I'm trying to fix myself," he leaned in and gave her a light but emotional kiss before continuing, "You help me with that. Ever since last Christmas, I think of her less and less," he rested his forehead against hers, smiled, and she smiled back with a look of hope upon her face, "and now, I think of you every day. I know that in reality we haven't spent that much time together but now we can work on that, right? Something good may come from you not working at the Ministry anymore."

Hermione found that she was at a loss for words. She took a hold of his left hand with her right and gazed up into Severus's face with wonder, "Severus…thank you. And yes, I see your point. Me getting sacked might be a blessing in disguise," her expression transformed into curiosity, "why are you telling me these things? I'm sorry that I upset you-"

Severus freed his left hand from hers and held it up, cutting her off, "Hermione, I was getting to that," a small knowing smile found its way to his lips.

With his free hand, he reached into his robes, grabbed a hold of something small enough to fit into the palm of his hand and slowly pulled it out; a small black velvet box. Hermione looked from Severus's face to the box and then back again, her eyes filled with shock and her mouth slightly hanging open. He lifted her left hand so that it was in between them both. Severus spoke now with determination, his eyes filled with many things: fear, doubt, hope, and love, "I love you, Hermione. I do, and I would be willing to do anything for you. You are the most important person in my life now," he momentarily let go of her left hand to open the small box before taking a hold of her hand again. The small piece of jewelry that rested in that box with the small white satin pillow made Hermione's heart stop.

Light purple and silver met her gaze. The stone was amethyst cut into a small oval, big enough that it was the focus of the ring but not too big that it would look hideous. Silver vines with silver leaves made up the band and smaller vines held the stone in place. Teeny-tiny diamonds were at the base of each leaf that was holding the stone and they had imperfect cracks inside of them that just made the ring more beautiful. Hermione finally remembered that she did, in fact, have lungs and gasped followed by a small airy sigh of surprise and excitement and shock.

Severus continued, his eyes filled with hope, the doubt and fear gone after seeing her reaction, "I would want nothing more than to spend the rest of my years, months, days, minutes and seconds with you. But I would only want that if you were all right with being with a broken man. I promise you," he smiled a small but true and genuine smile, "I promise that I will love you as much as my heart and soul can. And as time goes on, I hope that I can give you more and more of myself until, one day, I can be yours and yours alone."

Hermione was staring, open mouthed, into Severus's warm obsidian eyes as he finally asked, with his soft and silky voice filled with hope, and joy, "Will you marry me?"


	6. Tears of Joy

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is the master behind Harry Potter and all the characters and places, not me.

Author's Note: I'd like to take this moment to thank Rosai-Gryffindor for being a wonderful support and for reading through all my chapters to make sure I'm not making a fool of myself.

Chapter 5 – Tears of Joy

Tears were welling up in her eyes as she tried desperately to find her voice. She knew exactly what she wanted to say. Her answer was obvious and it shouldn't have taken so much effort for her to respond. She reached out with her right hand and lovingly wiped away the tears that streaked Severus's face.

Finally, Hermione found her voice. It came out soft, small and surprisingly pure, "Yes," a big beautiful tooth filled smile graced her features.

Shocked from not being rejected like he had been all his life, Severus let out a small laugh, "Please say it again, Hermione."

A delightful giggle escaped her lips as she leaned forward and rested her cheek against his, repeating herself in a light whisper, "Yes, Severus Snape. I will marry you," this was followed by a small kiss to his temple.

Severus had trouble controlling his breath. Silently, he pulled away from Hermione just enough so he could bring her left hand up to his mouth and he kissed her ring finger. He set down the box on the stone floor just so he could remove the plain silver ring from her ring finger. After placing it on the floor next to the box, he picked up the small beautiful ring and slowly placed it on her finger. As he did this, his head was bent down, eyes staring in disbelief at what he was doing. His hair fell in the typical black curtains around his face, hiding him from view.

When he looked up again into his now fiancé's face, he found that she still had that beautiful smile on her face, cheeks rosy with excitement and joy, eyes aglow with hope and nervousness, happy tears falling from her eyes. Pale hands found their way to her tear filled cheeks, cupped them, then used his thumbs to gently brush away the tears, "I love you, Hermione," his voice had never sounded so filled with emotion before.

Shaking from the adrenalin pumping through her body, Hermione moved her hands to cup Severus's face as well, her voice trembling but light, "I love you too, Severus," she sounded something like a cooing dove.

Severus began to move forward, eyelids lowering when Hermione leaned forward as well and they both met halfway with each other, sharing a kiss that sent shivers down their spines. Unable to hold herself back, Hermione moved her hands so that one was in Severus's hair and the other was around his torso in a loving embrace. Following her lead, Severus wrapped his arms around her, one hand on the small of her back, the other at the center of her back, holding her close. Bliss filled them, embraced them and engulfed them entirely.

_It was dark and silence filled the air. Severus Snape stood in the center of a dark room, walls filled with an ornate arrangement of books and ancient looking magical artifacts. Severus became scared for he knew exactly where he was. He also knew exactly what usually happened to him whenever he was in this particular room._

_ Suddenly, Severus doubled over in pain. His entire body felt like it was on fire and his arm burned with a horrible sensation. Falling to the floor, writhing in pain, a blood-curdling scream erupted from Severus's lips. It had been many years since he had felt this pain. Batwing-like robes were sprawled around his writhing form on the ground. After a few moments, he felt like the pain was about to completely leave him…but then another wave of absolute agony took over his body. As the second wave of pain overcame him, Severus heard the last voice that he ever wanted to hear again. It came out in a hiss._

_ "You will always be my servant, Snape."_

Severus screamed with everything he had while the cold hissing voice filled the room with malicious laughter…

Screaming was what woke her from her peaceful slumber. Hermione immediately sat up and turned around, tentatively putting a hand on Severus's left arm. She spoke with a soft and concerned tone, "Severus, what's wrong? What happened?"

At the feel of Hermione's touch, he immediately woke up and sat up all too quickly for as soon as he was in a sitting position, he fell right back onto his pillow. Face dripping with sweat, chest heaving with ragged breath, Severus slowly moved his head so he could face her. Strained and barely audible, "Herm…Hermione…"

"Shhh," she gently stroked his arm, a look of concern on her face, "You were screaming. Were you having a nightmare?"

Severus's eyes frantically began scanning his surroundings. They were both in his bed. Hermione was wearing one of his muggle shirts. It was black, of course. He was simply in a pair of pajama pants. Black eyes fell back on Hermione with a look of helplessness, "I wasn't here," fear was laced in the silk of his voice.

A look of worried confusion crossed her face, "What do you mean?"

The next several minutes were spent with Severus softly explaining what his dream had consisted of. Hermione had gasped and squeezed Severus's arm a few times during the more horrific parts. Finally, when Severus finished Hermione had her head on his chest and her arms around his left arm, lightly moving the tips of her fingers up and down the length between his elbow and shoulder. Her eyes drifted down and she saw the faded dark mark on his forearm, "Severus," her voice sounded scared as well, "do you think this dream meant anything?"

"It's hard to say," Severus's eyebrows came together in concentration, "The Dark Lord is gone. As such, all it could have been was a nightmare."

Hermione made a small noise in understanding before asking, "Does it hurt?" she slowly and gently slid a delicate hand from his bicep to his forearm, lingering there for a moment before taking a hold of his hand.

Twitching at first when he felt her hand on his forearm but he relaxed when she took his hand in her own. Severus's voice came out in a raspy whisper, "No, not anymore…not really," he held on tightly to Hermione's hand as if letting go of her would mean the end of him.

Warm brown eyes rose to meet black orbs, "What do you mean 'not really'?"

Smiling, Severus put his free hand on Hermione's head and began a massaging motion on the back of her scalp, "It doesn't hurt anymore but there's…a phantom pain that I feel. This goes for my neck, too," Hermione's gaze shifted to the malicious looking scar that seemed to take over most of his neck.

A sad frown fell onto Hermione's features, her voice came out like a whisper, "I'm so sorry, Severus."

Looking down into her eyes, Severus became confused, "Why do you apologize?"

Sad eyes continued to stare into Severus's dark and confused ones, "If only I knew better healing spells-"

"Hermione!"

Severus sat up, forcing Hermione to sit up as well, grabbing a hold of her shoulders with a firm but gentle grip, "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here. If it weren't for you, I would have bled out and died."

Sighing, Hermione pulled Severus into an embrace, causing him to let go of her shoulders and wrap his arms around her as well, "I didn't mean to upset you, Sev. I just feel horrible that I wasn't more knowledgeable about healing spells. If I was, you wouldn't be left with such a horrible scar."

A small smile sparkled behind those obsidian eyes and he began to…giggle? Hermione stared blankly for she had never heard Severus giggle before, "Hermione, Hermione…" he squeezed her momentarily before letting her go enough that they were looking at each other. Hermione looked shocked and he looked amused, "I don't mind the scar. It doesn't just remind me of what almost happened to me, rather, it is a constant reminder of what you did for me, Hermione," smiling a small but amused smile, he leaned in and kissed her lightly on her forehead before tenderly laying back down holding out his left hand, faded dark mark slightly visible.

Shock turned to a defeated smile. Taking his hand, Hermione laid herself back down on the soft black flannel sheets and curled up next to Severus. In response, he turned himself over to face her, wrapped his arms around her small frame and held her close with his chin resting at the top of her head. Hermione's face was in the crook of his neck as she snuggled closer and nuzzled him. It was in this way that they both fell asleep with nothing but peaceful dreams for the rest of the night.

When Severus woke up the next morning, he was greeted with Hermione snuggled up next to him, snoring softly. Chuckling a little bit, he took a hand and gently brushed some stray hairs from her peaceful face. He fleetingly wondered if he looked this peaceful when he slept.

Sitting up slowly, he stretched, making an extra effort to be careful to not wake up his sleeping bushy haired angel. Quietly, he got dressed into his usual attire: black flowing robes. On more than one occasion Hermione had told him that she had always secretly loved his robes. Said it made him look dashing. He smiled at the thought.

Once dressed, he made his way outside the castle. Instantly, Severus was hit with a blast of cold wind and snow. It took him a few moments to realize that that there was a violent blizzard going on outside. After coming to this realization, he quickly shut the doors and barred them. Obviously, he wasn't going to be able to go on that walk that he wanted to do.

Feeling rather put out, he decided to just wander the castle corridors. Thoughts had begun to flood his mind. Everything seemed so surreal to him. He had always thought that he would be alone for the rest of his tortured years if he were to survive the war. Yet, here he was, in a surprisingly stable relationship with a woman who he had used to verbally torture when she was a student. And just last night he took a step that he thought would lead to his ruin – he had asked her to marry him.

When she didn't reject him, when she had actually said "yes" it clicked something inside his very soul. Severus Snape had finally realized that he wasn't always going to be that greasy git that stalked the halls of the Hogwarts' Dungeons. For the first time in his life, Severus Snape felt like he had control over his life.

Feeling a sensation in his eyes, he quickly ducked into an empty classroom and shut the door. Leaning up against the closed wooden door, Severus brought up a hand and felt around his eyes. Tears were falling down his face, 'Strange,' he thought, 'why on earth am I crying?'

Several seconds went by before he realized that it was because he was happy. Severus had not been this happy in his entire life. He slid down the door and ended up in a sitting position on the floor. He looked up and sighed.

For so many years he had lived for one person and one purpose only: he lived because he loved Lily so much and he lived because he had to protect her son. It wasn't until the end of the war, shortly after he had woken up from the whole ordeal that he had to deal with the true loss of Lily from his life.

It was true that he had felt like Lily was with him all these years. That feeling was what kept him going most of the time. But when the Dark Lord was finally defeated and after he woke up and realized that Potter was safe, he had felt Lily's presence leave him. Feeling such a thing had nearly broken him. If it weren't for Minerva and Hermione continuing to be his friends, then he probably would have fallen into a pit of despair. However, he was very certain that if he hadn't felt Lily's presence leave him, he probably wouldn't have been able to form any kind of feelings towards Hermione.

This was the last gift that Lily Evans Potter had left for Severus Snape. By leaving him absolutely, he was finally free to be able to love another, someone who could love him back, preferably, someone alive.

Lifting his left hand, he gazed at the plain silver ring on his finger. It brought him so much joy to finally be able to love another person. To have that other person love him back was almost too much for him. Nothing ever seemed to go right for him. He also knew that he had to do everything in his power to never take anything in his life for granted. If he wanted this relationship to work out and if he wanted to finally make things right in his life, he was going to need to never take his life for granted ever again, especially Hermione.

Closing his fist, a determined and hopeful look set on his sharp features, Severus stood up, brushed the dust and other small debris from the floor and began to make his way back to his rooms.


	7. What's The Harm In Buying A Dress?

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and everything to do with it. I do not.

Chapter 6 – What's The Harm In Buying A Dress?

When Severus made his way back into his rooms, he found Hermione awake, sitting on the couch eating a piece of toast with Crookshanks on her lap in front of the lit fireplace. Silently, he took off his flowing black cloak setting it on the coat rack before getting his own piece of toast. It didn't slip his notice that Hermione had obviously made the toast herself, no house-elf help was used.

Taking a seat next to Hermione, Severus greeted her with a soft and loving tone in his voice, "Good morning, love."

Hermione smiled, "Good morning to you too. Aside from the incident last night, did you sleep alright?" concern filled her eyes.

"I slept rather peacefully. You're a wonderful remedy, Hermione."

Blushing, Hermione nodded and looked up to Severus, "Do you know what day it is today?"

Beaming, Severus leaned over and gave her a small kiss on her cheek, "Of course I do. Today is Christmas Eve."

Frowning, Hermione pouted, "And?"

Gulping down the last of his toast, Severus looked into her eyes and then gave his trademark smirk before letting it turn into a loving smile, "Our one year anniversary."

Severus was rewarded with a happy smile, "I knew you wouldn't forget!" Hermione placed her plate down on the side table next to the couch before leaning over and wrapping her arms around his neck.

Returning the gesture, Severus rested his chin upon the top of her head with his arms embracing her before asking, "Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me today? I would like to go to pick up some more ingredients for my private stores and," he paused before going on, "I thought that you might want to take a look at the wedding robes that they have for sale in the different clothing shops."

Hermione's grip on Severus tightened, "Do we have any dates in mind?"

Severus pondered for a moment before replying thoughtfully, "I'm not sure, really, " he kissed the top of her head, "we can figure out that detail at a later time if that is agreeable with you?"

Nodding, she replied shyly, "It would be. When would you like to go to Hogsmeade?"

Pure silk in a vocalized version almost sang back, "Whenever you would like to. I'm in no hurry."

A couple of hours later, Hermione and Severus found themselves walking through the snow, hand in hand, going towards Hogsmeade. Lucky for them the blizzard decided to die down enough that they didn't feel the need to use magic to get through it. Hermione looked up, enjoying the cold snow on her face. Severus dared a glance and smiled warmly.

Hermione opened her eyes and met Severus's gaze, "Where should we go first?"

A thoughtful expression danced across his face, "We can go look at robes?"

Blush filled her cheeks and made them warm, "Alright."

Chuckling, Severus led her towards the wizarding clothing shop, Gladrags Wizard Wear. Hermione gasped, "Severus," she turned her head so she could look at him, "this is where I bought my dress for the Yule Ball back in my fourth year."

Severus raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Really."

He chuckled, "We both have good taste then. I get my winter clothing from them all the time."

Hermione gained a knowing look and nodded, "They are mostly famous for their socks."

A small laugh escaped him, "Oh I know. Be careful not to buy those screaming sock though. If you neglect your laundry you end up with a headache."

They were both laughing lightly with each other as they entered the store. However, upon entering, they both immediately noticed the other occupants of the store. Aside from the slightly plump but friendly woman behind the counter, a certain tall redheaded man standing with a very obnoxious sounding brunette had their backs towards them, the girl was giggling and the man had a look on his face that showed that he was deep in thought about something. He was most likely pondering if he could afford the dress robes in front of him.

After realizing exactly who these two individuals were, Severus quickly looked at Hermione to make sure that she was all right. The look upon her face told him that she was most certainly not all right. Severus quickly turned her around and pulled her out of the shop and took her around to the side of the store and into a little alleyway. Grasping her shoulders gently, he knelt down so that he was at eye level with her, "Hermione," Severus's voice was smooth, silky but laced heavily with concern, "if you'd like, we can always go back to the castle for today and come back later."

Shaking her head, Hermione tried to get the livid look off of her face before looking into Severus's eyes, "No…I wont let a cheating git like Ron ruin my day with you, Sev."

Nodding in understanding, Severus took Hermione into his arms in a warm and loving embrace before standing back up, taking her hand in his and began to walk towards the Three Broomsticks. After something like that he figured that Hermione could use a nice warm butterbeer.

They took a seat in a back corner of the pub before ordering their drinks. Noticing that Hermione had an upset look on her face, Severus moved over and put an arm around her shoulders, "Try not to think about how much he hurt you, Hermione. Think more about…" Severus took a moment before grinning and whispering into her ear, "Think more about how he'll probably end up in St. Mungo's after being driven mad by his poor decisions."

Hermione allowed herself to laugh before taking a gulp of her butterbeer. The image of Ron being tied up in a straight jacket muttering about Lavender and her crazy laughter with his eyes all bugged out amused her greatly. She allowed her head to rest on Severus's shoulder as they both finished their butterbeers in comfortable silence.

As they were leaving the Three Broomsticks, a horribly familiar voice sounded behind them in the cold air of the snow filled village, "Well, well, this _is_ a surprise, isn't it?"

Hermione and Severus froze in mid-stride as Lucius's voice reached their ears. Severus slowly turned his head so he could see Lucius standing behind them, cane in hand. A sinister grin appeared on Lucius's face, "Two Mudbloods going on a stroll. How delightfully…disgusting," his voice dripped with disdain and malice.

The grip that Hermione had on Severus's hand tightened significantly. Severus's eyes narrowed as he spoke, silky anger filled his tone, "What do you want, Malfoy?" he practically hissed every word.

Lucius glared right back, "I just thought you ought to know that even if the Ministry approves of your…union…that I most certainly do not. If you continue down the path that you've chosen then we, dear Severus, can no longer be friends."

A growling noise erupted from deep within Severus's throat. Hermione made a small-terrified sound. A big white wall of windy snow surrounded the three of them. However, before either of them could react, Lucius apparated right next to Hermione before hitting her in the stomach with the snakehead of his cane. Doubling over, Hermione fell to her knees in the snow. Severus quickly caught Hermione and pulled her away just before Lucius was about to hit her again.

Pulling her to be in front of him, Severus enveloped her in his arms and shielded her with this body. A piercing pain shot through Severus's body as Lucius hit him on the back with a sickening cracking noise. A rib or two were definitely broken.

Severus turned his head to angrily glare into Lucius's eyes, "What the bloody hell is your problem, Malfoy!" he hissed out the words, pain oozing from his voice.

Looking thoughtful for a moment, Lucius answered with amusement in his voice, "What is my problem, you ask? Aside from the clear fact that you both make me sick?" leaning over the both of them, his voice turned to a hushed whisper, "Just because the Dark Lord is gone doesn't mean that no one can take his place."

Severus's eyes widened in realization of what Lucius's words meant. He made a grab at the inside of his robes for his wand but before he could pull it from his robes Lucius smacked Severus's right arm, another loud sickening cracking could be heard. Hermione screamed. Before either of them could do anything, Malfoy apparated away. Along with Malfoy, the wall of white window snow turned back into gentle falling snowflakes.

Feeling rather beaten and broken and somewhat embarrassed, Severus attempted to stand but failed. Hermione turned around in Severus's arms, a terrified look upon her face, "Severus…" her voice sounded just as scared as she looked.

Taking out her wand, Hermione simply concentrated and waved it slowly over Severus's torso. Immediately, Severus could feel his bones popping back into place and mending themselves. She did the same movement over his right arm. A proud and impressed look covered his face as he gently spoke, "And you thought that your healing abilities were poor."

Making a face at him, Hermione attempted to stand when she doubled back over, making a pained hissing sound. She grabbed a hold of her midsection as she fell back down to the ground. Severus held her and pulled her close to him. He attempted to move her arms from her stomach but when she refused to move them, he gently removed them. Immediately, dark blood began to seep through her winter jacket.

Acting upon instinct, Severus quickly unzipped her coat and lifted up her shirt to find several small but deep cuts covering her midsection where Lucius had hit her with his cane. Deciding that he would figure out how something like this could happen from a mere thwack from a cane later, Severus picked up his wand and began to chant/sing the healing spell that he had invented back when he was a student, "_Vulnera Sanentur…Vulera Sanentur…Vulera Sanentur…_" the wounds completely closed themselves by the time he repeated the incantation the third time.

By the time Severus was done with the healing spell, he noticed that Hermione had passed out, most likely from losing so much blood prior to his healing spell. After putting away his wand, Severus took Hermione up in his arms and began to carry her back through the snow and back to the castle. When he walked by Gladrags Wizard Wear, the couple didn't go unnoticed by a certain red haired man.

Hermione finally woke up, darkness greeting her as she opened her eyes. Candlelight from the nightstand helped with recognizing that she was in Severus's bedroom. She turned her head to find Severus sitting in a chair next to the bed, holding her hand, head lying next to it with his eyes closed, a peaceful expression on his face as he slept. Smiling, Hermione turned her body so that she was completely facing him. She reached out with her right hand to brush her fingers over the pale skin of his cheek.

Just as she was about to touch his face, Severus's left hand gently stopped her, intertwining his fingers with hers. With eyes still closed, he spoke softly, "I'm glad you're awake. How are you feeling?"

Taking a moment to breathe deeply, causing her stomach to move, making sure that her body didn't hurt anywhere she replied, "I feel fine. Severus?" her voice became concerned, "Why did Lucius Malfoy attack us like that? It was so sudden and out of the blue…wont he get into trouble for this?"

Sighing, Severus sat up and opened his eyes. His gaze held worry and a touch of fear, "I already wrote to the Ministry about this. Apparently, Lucius has fallen off the radar. No one knows where he is or what he's doing. My theory, " he kicked off his shoes and climbed into bed and laid down next to Hermione, holding her close, "is that Malfoy is attempting to take the Dark Lord's place."

Hermione opened and closed her mouth in shock. Finally, she found her voice, "Why would he want to do something like that? I would have thought that he would be relieved and would want to live his life normally like the rest of us," she sounded rather irritated.

"Some people just can't let go of the past," Severus's voice held some disappointed sadness behind his words.

A gentle hand caressed Severus's face causing his features to soften, "Severus, we shouldn't allow Malfoy to worry us right now. You wrote to the Ministry and to be honest," an irritated tone filled her voice, "I think the next time I see him I'm going to hex him into the next century."

Severus raised an eyebrow, "What about your fear of him?"

She glared at nothing in particular, "I think I can get over my fear," Hermione's eye twitched before she made eye contact with Severus, "I don't take kindly to anyone who enjoys hurting the people that I care about."

A noise that sounded like a chuckle escaped Severus's mouth. Hermione's frown deepened, "Are you actually laughing at me?"

The chuckle deepened, "No, I'm not laughing at you," he leaned in and kissed her gently, "you're simply too adorable when you get angry."

Rolling her eyes, she returned the kiss and made herself comfortable against his chest, "I really hope that nothing too horrible will come of this."

Severus absentmindedly squeezed her tightly to his body in a very protective manner, "If we have to deal with Malfoy, we will deal with him when the time comes."

They both stayed in each other's arms like this until sleep took them.


	8. A Birthday to Remember

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter, not me.

Author's Note: Again, I'd like to extend a wonderful thank you to Rosai for editing my stuff and making sure that I'm not writing a bunch of rubbish. I hope you all enjoy this next chapter! I'm sorry it took me so long to gain inspiration for creating it. Enjoy!

Chapter 7 – A Birthday To Remember

Christmas Day went smoothly without much incident. The two lovebirds ended up staying in Severus's private rooms the whole day playing some muggle board games, card games and few rounds of wizard's chess. In the morning they both opened the few presents that they had received from the different staff members and from each other. New Years also went rather uneventful. All that they did was drink a few glasses of champagne and play wizard's chess in front of the fire. Several more days went by until it was the 8th of January.

The morning started off rather normal up until Severus began giving off that air of being angered by something. When Hermione had asked what was bothering him, he would either respond with a shrug or he'd grumble and say, "Nothing, don't worry about it." Around noontime, Hermione was going to try to get Severus to talk about what was bothering him when a house elf popped into the living room and tugged on Hermione's robes and squeaked, "The Headmistress would like to see you, Ms."

Sighing, Hermione quickly gave Severus a peck on the cheek before leaving the private quarters with a quick, "I'll be right back."

The moment that Hermione entered Minerva's office, she was greeted with a smiling Minerva, "Good morning, Hermione."

Hermione smiled in response, "Good morning, Headmistress."

Minerva motioned for Hermione to sit in the chair in front of Minerva's desk and she did. The Headmistress handed the ex-student an official looking sheet of paper written in emerald green ink. The older woman spoke softly, "I would have owled you but it seems that you're currently living with Severus so I figured I could just give this to you in person."

After reading it through, Hermione looked up, a shocked look on her face, "You wish for me to take an apprenticeship here under Severus?"

Nodding, Minerva's face became serious, "Yes, I do, Hermione. Of all the students who have recently graduated from Hogwarts, you are the one that I think would be best suited for potion making."

Hermione crinkled her nose, "But I love charms far more than I love potions."

Minerva waved her hand, "If you'd like, you can take an apprenticeship with both Professor Flitwick and with Severus."

The younger woman raised an eyebrow in suspicion, "Why do you want me to become proficient in potions so badly?"

The older woman put a hand to her forehead and sighed, "You are the most talented witch that I've seen in a long time. You have wonderful potential and potion making is extremely difficult and rigorous. Think about it, Hermione: in your second year at Hogwarts you brewed a perfect polyjuice potion."

Hermione held up her hand, "If you remember, I made a huge mistake with the cat hair-"

"Yes," Minerva had a strange Dumbledore-like twinkle in her eyes, "but if you recall, aside from that, you made the potion perfectly. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley made a perfect transformation with your potion. You could even be called a child prodigy with potions."

Hermione blushed, "Professor, you're still not telling me why you want me to learn potions so badly."

Minerva answered very matter-of-factly, "In the entire Wizarding World, Severus Snape is the best potions master. He knows more about potions than anyone else. He also has refused to take on any apprentices. However, he knows you, likes you and may even love you from what I understand," she looked at Hermione over her square spectacles, "If Severus is going to pick anyone to be his apprentice, that person would be you."

Nodding in understanding, Hermione looked back down at the paper and seemed deep in thought. It was about five minutes before Hermione looked back up to Minerva, "I'll do it but only if Severus wants to allow me to be his apprentice. I'll speak with him and I'll let you know by this evening."

Hermione stood up and was about to leave before she paused then looked back at Minerva, "Professor McGonagall?"

"Yes, Hermione?"

"Would you have any idea why Severus has been in such a foul mood today? He wont talk to me about it."

Minerva gave a sad but knowing look, "Tomorrow is his birthday."

Confusion took over Hermione's features, "Why would he be so upset over his birthday?"

"Well," Minerva sighed, "No one really knows except him. All we know is that he'll get very angry if anyone gives him birthday presents or birthday wishes," Minerva paused, "Wait a second…you two have been together for a little while now. How come you're just now realizing when his birthday is?"

Hermione blushed, "Actually, Severus still doesn't know when my birthday is. We never really saw it as an important topic, I suppose."

Shaking her head, Minerva waved Hermione out of her office. The younger woman bowed a little before leaving. Minerva called out to her, "Good luck, Hermione."

Upon entering back into Severus's private quarters, Hermione found Severus sitting in front of the fire looking rather upset. Smiling warmly, she came up behind Severus, knelt down behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck, "You know that I love you, right?"

"Of course I do," he had his hands gently on Hermione's arms, his cheek lightly resting on one of her arms, "I'm sorry I'm being so down today."

Hermione nuzzled the back of Severus's head with her nose, "Don't worry about it. If you want to talk to me about, please do. You know I wont judge."

The smallest of smiles rose onto Severus's lips, "I know you wont," he paused before going on with a silky whisper with a hint of great dislike, "Tomorrow is my forty-forth birthday."

"Why are you so glum about that? Shouldn't something like that be a day for celebration?" she pressed.

"Well, as it is," he said with a voice heavily laced with loathing, "no one has ever celebrated my birthday with anything but regret."

Hermione gave Severus a small squeeze, "Severus…" her voice sounded sad.

Severus took one of Hermione's hands and kissed it, "Please don't sound like that. No one has ever celebrated my birth in the last forty-three years so why should I start now?"

"Because," she moved so that she was sitting in front of Severus and looking into his eyes, "we're going to be starting a new life together soon. I think that's plenty of reason for trying to celebrate your birthday," there was determination in her eyes.

Upon seeing this determination, Severus smiled and gave in, "Alright," he leaned in and gave her a light but passionate kiss, "we can do something tomorrow. But please don't over do it, alright?"

Hermione nodded, a very happy smile plastered on her face, "Alright."

She got up and was about to go prepare them some lunch when she remembered, "Oh!" she turned around to look at Severus, "I almost forgot: Minerva wants me to be your apprentice for Potion Making."

For several seconds, Severus just stared at her. Finally, he found his voice, "Really? What do you think about it?"

Brown eyes looked down at the floor, "Well, I told her that I would think about it. I'd be alright with doing it but only if you're alright with it as well."

Severus looked at her with a strange kind of satisfied glee, "Of course I would! Why would I say no?"

Hermione looked up and made eye contact with Severus, "Minerva told me that every time she's tried to find you an apprentice you always turn them down."

"Well," he scoffed, "that's simply because every single person that she's sent my way has proven themselves to be absolute dunderheads," he smiled, "But you, Hermione," he stood up, took a few steps and took Hermione's hands in his own and kissed them, "you're brilliant. When in my classes you were at the top of the class. No one in any house could rival your potion making abilities."

Hermione's eyebrows knitted together in slight frustration, "Then why did you see fit to torment me so often, then?"

Severus gave a small slightly guilty smile, "Well, let's face it, you were a know-it-all. You always raised your hand, didn't give anyone else a chance and you were a young student and to be completely honest? I hate dealing with know-it-all students, no matter how bright and brilliant they may be."

Rolling her eyes, Hermione brought Severus into a hug, "I know, but you really did hurt my feelings a lot."

Returning the hug, Severus buried his face in her bushy hair, "I know, and I'm very sorry about that but," he pulled away and looked her in the eyes, "my attitude towards you ended up getting you to work harder for approval, didn't it?"

Her mouth dropped, "You…you did that on purpose for that kind of result, didn't you!"

Laughing, Severus let her go and headed towards his small kitchen with Hermione walking after him, grumbling about how tricky he was.

The next morning, Severus woke up to find that he was alone in the bed. After struggling with getting out of the nice warm sheets, he made his way into the living room area and found a nice big breakfast for him on the table. Once he sat down, Hermione came in and sat down across from him, placing her own breakfast down in front of her. Severus smiled sleepily at her, "Good morning, love."

Hermione beamed back at him, "Good morning, Sev," she leaned over the small table and kissed him on the cheek and whispered, "Happy birthday."

Severus's face fell a little bit but he reminded himself that this birthday was going to be better than his birthdays in the past. He had to remember that Hermione was a part of his life now and just knowing that already made his birthday the best birthday of his entire life. A small smile formed on Severus's lips, "Thank you, Hermione," he whispered in response.

They ate in a very comfortable silence. After Hermione finished, she got up, grabbed her dishes and left for the kitchen. When Severus finished, she immediately came back and took his plates as well. Right before she disappeared into the kitchen area again, she looked over her shoulder and smiled sweetly, "I'm going to be busy for the next few hours. If you need anything, I'll be in the kitchen," and with that, she disappeared into the kitchen.

Severus spent the next short while lying down on his couch in front of his fire with a muggle book entitled Sherlock Holmes. It wasn't until he was about a third of the way through before Hermione came in, waved her hand and the lights dimmed. Confused, Severus got up from the couch and headed towards where Hermione was bringing in…a cake.

In the dim light, Severus could make out that the cake was rather small, about the size of a small dinner plate. It looked like it was a white cake with white frosting topped with chocolate frosting that looked like it was dripping down the sides in a very playful but artsy kind of way. The top had five small strawberries placed strategically around the perimeter of the cake with white candles in between the strawberries. In white frosting on top of the dark frosting were the words "Happy Birthday, Severus".

Tears began to well up in those obsidian eyes as the reality hit Severus in the face – someone was honestly celebrating his birthday. Sitting down in his usual chair at the small table, Hermione placed the cake in the center of the table. Her bushy hair was tied up in a red ribbon at the back of her head and she wore a rather flattering ivory dress that hugged her in all the right places with a skirt that flowed out like a flower. Severus was shocked into silence.

Hermione smiled warmly at Severus, leaned over and gave him a kiss on the nose, then she waved her hand over the cake and the candles lit themselves. She began to sing in a small and happy voice, "_Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Severus, happy birthday to you_," she continued to look at him with a warm and loving gaze.

Severus opened and closed his mouth several times a fish before he finally found his voice, "Hermione," it came out in a shaky and emotional whisper, "You didn't have to…I mean, I'm not…" Sighing heavily from the frustration of not being able to figure out the right words to say, he got up and hugged Hermione tightly, whispering into her ear, "Thank you."

Returning his hug, she whispered back, "No need to thank me. Everyone deserves to have their birthday celebrated."

Severus pulled away and sat back down, followed by Hermione who sat down across from him. They sat there for a moment before she stated, "You've never done this before, have you?"

Shaking his head 'no' Hermione smiled warmly in response, "You think to yourself about a wish that you have and then you blow out the candles."

Nodding, and not questioning the silliness of such a tradition, Severus closed his eyes to think of a wish but of course because he had been so emotional earlier, happy tears fell down his face. After a short moment, Severus opened his eyes and blew the candles out. Smiling, Hermione waved her hand and the lights all came back and the fireplace went back to its roaring glory. The next half hour was spent with them eating cake and looking lovingly at each other.


	9. Robes and Classes and FirstYears, Oh My

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the wonderful J.K. Rowling does.

Author's Note: So, I'm EXTEMELY sorry to all of my readers for not updating for almost the last year…I've been trying to graduate and after I did that, I had to find a job. Paying back student loans is a pain. So, here I am, finally with a job and I have a degree now…in Asian Studies…with a focus in Japanese Film of all things lol. And what is my job now? In home Caregiver! ….yeah, best not to ask how that happened lol. So anyway, here's a nice long chapter for you all. I again am very sorry for the extremely long delay. Thank you everyone and happy reading!

A/N: To Meliasan – thank you for pointing that problem out! I've been so scatterbrained that I messed up something as obvious as that ^_^;; my apologies and here is the revised chapter! Not a lot was changed, but I altered it enough so that the sorting doesn't happen and so that it's not as if it's the first time that Severus has, at least, dealt with the first year students for the first time. Sorry everyone and enjoy!

Chapter 8 – Robes and Classes and First-Years, Oh My!

Two silhouettes could be seen on the big four-poster bed as the light of dawn came in through the small window. Severus stirred in his sleep before finally and slowly waking up and coming to a sitting position. Rubbing his eyes and yawning, Severus looked at the other side of the bed, which was occupied by his beautiful fiancé and that mane of bushy hair that happened to be covering her pillow and part of her face. A small, warm and genuine smile danced across his face as he remembered the events of yesterday.

Hermione had made him a birthday cake, sang to him and had even given him a present. His gaze went to the far wall next to the wardrobe in the bedroom, which had a brand new dark wood rack with all kinds of small but beautifully ornate potion bottles. Severus had never had such a wonderful birthday before in his life. Looking back at his rare gift that lay in his bed, he marveled at how the dim sunlight in the darkness of the bedroom made her skin look like ivory. Severus reached out with a hand and gently stroked his fingers down the length of her arm, making a mental note that her skin felt like satin. Feeling horrible for what he had to do next, Severus sighed and slowly stroked her cheek, simultaneously taking her hair off of her cheek. He couldn't help but notice that her cheeks had a small bit of pink coloring to them.

Stirring, she opened up one of her eyes to gaze up at Severus's pale face, "mmm…Good morning, love," a small smile graced her features.

This time, Severus gained a small bit of pink to his face, "Good morning, my sweet."

Hermione giggled lightly and sat up, bringing a blanket up to her chest to cover her nakedness, "I hope you had a good birthday yesterday."

She was immediately responded to with a gentle but passionate kiss, "You gave me the best birthday that I've ever had."

"I'm happy that you liked it, " she smiled and kissed the tip of his nose, "Now, I'm going to shower and get dressed. The students come back today."

Severus nodded mutely and allowed Hermione to leave to get ready for the day. While waiting for her to finish her shower, Severus stayed seated on the bed, rubbing his temples in irritation. He absolutely hated the first few days of classes. Patience was not a virtue that he held dear and unfortunately for him, patience was needed when dealing with the first years during at least the first week of classes.

About an hour and a half later, both Severus and Hermione were showered and dressed. Hand in hand, the both of them made their way up to the great hall for breakfast with the rest of the staff. On the way there, Severus gave Hermione's hand a small squeeze. Looking up at his face, Hermione squeezed back reassuringly, "Are you alright, Severus?" concern was laced in her voice.

"Don't worry about it, Hermione," his voice sounded heavy somehow.

A small frown fell onto her face, "Severus…"

Severus raised her hand to his lips and gently kissed her fingers, "I'll tell you after breakfast, alright?"

Nodding feeling at least a little bit satisfied, they walked the rest of the way to the great hall in silence.

Breakfast was rather uneventful. Hermione sat in between Severus and Neville Longbottom who was the Herbology professor now. Surprisingly enough, the three of them were able to hold a lovely conversation about different plants and what their different effects were in regards to potions. Since Hermione was Severus's apprentice for the next few years she found all of this incredibly fascinating. Right after breakfast was over, Minerva held a staff meeting that only lasted about ten minutes.

"Once the students arrive," she began, "the feast will commence. Once the feast is over, the students will be directed back to their houses by the prefects. We have a new addition to our staff," Minerva waved her hand toward Hermione, "well, she's not exactly a staff member, but Hermione Granger is Severus's apprentice. Therefore, she will need to learn everything that she can in regards to potion making. Any knowledge that anyone can give her is welcome. We are very happy to have you with us, Hermione," she clapped lightly and all the staff members followed suit, "That is all, everyone. Please, everyone be back in the great hall for the evening feast."

While walking away from the meeting in Minerva's office, Severus took Hermione's hand and led her somewhat quickly back to what was now their private rooms. Once back inside, Severus shut the door behind him and turned to face a rather confused Hermione. Folding her arms over her chest, Hermione gave Severus a concerned expression, "So, what's bothering you?"

"Honestly," he began, "I don't enjoy teaching the first years during the first couple weeks back from Christmas holiday. It's as if the holiday sucked the knowledge from their brains. They're complete dunderheads, all of them! The only student I ever had that managed to not destroy their potions from day one was you," his fists clenched and he averted his gaze from his bushy haired angel, a scowl placed firmly on his face, "therefore…I apologize sincerely to you, Hermione, if my mood for the next few weeks is foul towards you," the scowl upon his face turned to one of shame.

While he spoke, Hermione's arms slowly fell to her sides. When he finished speaking, Hermione walked towards Severus and took him into her arms in an embrace; one of her hands entwined in his silky black hair and her other arm around the middle of his torso. Severus responded by wrapping his arms around her small frame, burying his face in her hair and breathing deeply. She spoke softly into his ear as she gently massaged his back and scalp, "I don't know if it helps, but I'll be there with you every day in your classes. I'll help with the students and if they get to be too much I can take over. First year potions shouldn't be too hard for me to teach. We can even have a safe word or gesture for when you'd like for me to take over, or-"

She was unable to continue since Severus began kissing her softly. Chocolate eyes closed as the kiss deepened. Her mind seemed to shut itself off, the only thought on her mind was how soft Severus's lips were on hers and on his hands, which were holding her so gently but firmly close to his body.

They stayed in this way for several countless minutes before he pulled away and rested his forehead on hers, his eyes closed, "Thank you for your concern. I will think about your offer…and I may accept."

Hermione wrapped some of his hair around her fingers and nuzzled against his forehead a little bit, "Just say the word and I'll be there to help."

Nodding, Severus picked up Hermione into his arms and carried her into the bedroom, him grinning and she laughing.

The evening feast went smoothly. Severus, Hermione and Neville all sat in the same places as before and this time they talked about what they all did over the summer. The conversation ended up on Hermione losing her job at the ministry at one point but she just smiled and responded with, "Well, now I get to spend more time with Severus."

It was no secret that Hermione and Severus were engaged. As a matter of fact, many of the students were constantly sneaking looks at the both of them and then chatting away with their friends. This made Severus rather uncomfortable, which would then cause Hermione to gently take hold of one of his hands and stroking the skin on the top of his hand with her thumb.

Finally, the feast was over and Severus and Hermione found themselves walking, hand in hand, down the hall that led into the dungeons. While walking, they passed a few Slytherin students, which gave the both of them strange looks, unsure of what to think of this new development. Hermione dared a glance up at her pale prince and noticed that he had his cold mask on, a scowl firmly in place. She frowned in response.

After getting into their rooms and closing the door, Hermione rounded on him, "Why did you look like that while we were walking? Do you hate showing that you have feelings for me in front of the school _that_ badly?"

She had her arms crossed across her chest and she had a glare that shot daggers through Severus's chest. He immediately lost his cold mask, his face fell and he put his face in his hand, "No, Hermione, I don't hate it…the students, they-"

"They what, exactly?"

"Hermione, please…"

Upon hearing the hurt tone in Severus's voice, she stopped talking but continued to fold her arms and glare at him.

Severus looked up from his hand and sighed, "I don't like how the students look at us. As if we're some kind of strange creature or something…"

Hermione's expression softened, "Is that really a good excuse for looking as if you hate every moment you spend with me?"

Pain and guilt shadowed over his face as Severus walked over to the small table with the two chairs and sat down, propping his elbows on the tabletop and keeping his face in his hands. Sighing, Hermione walked over and placed a hand on Severus's shoulder, "I'm sorry, Severus…I shouldn't have blown up at you like that. I just," she knelt down and laid her head on his lap, closing her eyes, "I would just like for us to be able to walk around the castle together, in front of the students, holding hands with each other and not caring what the students think. Our relationship and why we're together is none of their business."

She felt a hand rest on her head, playing with her hair. Severus's deep and velvet voice sounded from above, "I understand how you feel, Hermione. I promise you, I will try to work on it but please don't expect me to change how I handle this situation over night."

Hermione wrapped her arms around the middle of his waste and sighed, "Of course I don't expect you to change something like that over night. But I love that you're going to try."

Severus helped Hermione to get up from the floor and followed her into the bedroom. Once there, she turned around and began to unbutton Severus's token black robes, exposing his bare chest. She leaned in and kissed his newly exposed skin and made a small trail up to his neck, beyond his neck, around his jaw line until she found his mouth. Severus found the bottom of her light blue blouse and pulled it up and over her head. A few moments later, the both of them found themselves to be practically naked, each of them only wearing their underwear. Hermione smiled but then attempted to stifle a yawn. Severus gave her a knowing look, "We should really just sleep tonight. We have classes tomorrow."

Nodding, she sleepily wrapped her arms around him, holding him close as she whispered sweetly, "Alright…lets get to bed."

With surprising ease, Severus put one arm around her back and the other under her legs and carried her over to the bed and laid her down, a dreamy expression on her face. Severus walked around to the other side of the bed and laid down next to his fiancé and pulled the blankets over the both of them. Hermione rolled over onto her side and cuddled into Severus's body, nuzzling into his chest. Right before Severus drifted off to sleep, he heard Hermione's voice, sound something akin to the coo of a dove, "I love you, Severus Snape."

He kissed her forehead and replied with a husky velvet voice, "I love you too, Hermione Granger."

The next morning was quite the scene. Hermione had talked Severus a few days ago into allowing her to use her muggle alarm clock. The moment it went off at six in the morning with the loud insane beeping, Severus bolted out of bed in a frantic panic, managed to end up with the blankets tangled around his legs and ended up on the floor with a very loud yell. Hermione had to turn the clock off, laughing the whole time. Black eyes slowly rose from the side of the bed with a hard glare, which only had Hermione laughing even more.

Showering was just as amusing since Hermione had showered first and when she attempted to get out of the shower, she slipped on the floor towel and ended up colliding with Severus who happened to be brushing his teeth in front of the sink; his toothbrush ended up in the air and bounced off of Severus's face and ended up on the floor. Luckily, they both ended up laughing from this silly moment. Severus's shower went smoothly and while they dressed nothing too silly ended up happening.

While Severus was running a comb through his hair, Hermione was in front of a mirror, charming her hair from being in a big bushy mass to being in nice even curls and waves that laid at least a little bit flatter on her head. Since she just showered, her hair had a lovely shine to it. Severus had a hard time keeping himself from stealing long glances at her.

He had to shake his head and focus when Hermione turned around to face him with a smile on her face, "So, how do I look? Presentable for my first day as your apprentice?"

Severus looked at her up and down. The robes that she wore were similar to his own only the clothing that she wore under the robes was a dark blue dress that went down to her ankles with the black robes over top of it. With a smile, Severus nodded mutely giving her his approval.

In return, Hermione looked at Severus as well and smiled, "You look nice today too," he wore his usual black outfit, buttons on the front, and bottom of his pants and his sleeves with his billowing black robes over the top.

She tilted her head a bit with a pondering look on her face. Severus's eyebrows knitted together in confusion and he looked down at himself, "What? Is there something wrong with my clothes?"

Hermione walked up to him and circled him once and then twice and then stopped behind him and snapped her fingers, "Ah ha! I know what this needs!"

Severus turned around to face her, "What do my clothes need, pray tell?"

She pulled out her wand with a happy and excited smile on her face, "May I?"

Pausing for a moment, he replied slowly, "I…suppose…"

Quickly, Hermione waved her wand over his black robes but said nothing. All of a sudden, his black robes turned into a beautiful dark emerald green. Looking at himself in the mirror, Severus found himself smiling, "Wow…this actually looks wonderful, Hermione."

Looking very proud of herself, Hermione came up beside Severus and took a hold of his hand, gazing at him through the mirror, "I'm glad that you like it. Green and black is very flattering on you."

A small bit of color flooded to his cheeks as Hermione kept her hold on his hand and began to lead him out of their rooms and to the great hall. Severus gave a small groan of protest. She gave his hand a small reassuring squeeze, "Don't stress on it. It probably wont be as bad as you're expecting it to be, Sev."

Severus rolled his eyes, "You've never been on the teaching end of a first year potions class, Hermione. You'll see what I mean when nine o' clock rolls around."

To Hermione's horror, Severus couldn't have been more right about the first year classes. It was only half passed nine and already two students had accidentally blown up their potions in their faces, five students had managed to completely ruin their potions and had to start from the very beginning again and one poor sad student had made a completely wrong potion and it ended up eating the cauldron and Severus had to step in and take care of the nasty mess. By the end of the first class Hermione's hair looked like a big lion's mane with small bits of electricity flowing through it. Severus took a small step backwards from her after the last student left the classroom and ran a hand through his hair, "I told you that it would be a nightmare."

Hermione's eye twitched and another spark of blue electricity flowed through her hair, "Y-yeah…you did."

After a few moments of silence with a few electric pops every so often, Severus burst into laughter, "Hermione you should see your face!"

A part of Hermione wanted to yell at Severus for laughing at her but then she caught her reflection in one of Severus's decretive silver cauldrons in the corner of the classroom and couldn't help but join Severus in his laughter. After several minutes of laughing and holding their sides, Hermione straightened up and proceeded to fix her hair, "At least the whole day isn't filled with first year classes."

Nodding, Severus waved his wand and watched as the classroom began cleaning itself and preparing itself for the next class. Hermione grinned and put a hand on her hip, "Whatever happened to your philosophy on 'foolish wand waving'?"

Severus stuck his tongue out at Hermione in a very childish manner which caused her to raise an eyebrow, "Well, aren't we mature today."

They both began lightly laughing and it was in this way that the next class found their potions' instructors.

As the last class of the day cleared out of the classroom, Hermione stretched and yawned, "I can't believe we survived!"

Severus huffed, "We get to deal with this all the time. Welcome to the potions apprenticeship."

Hermione giggled and took Severus's hand, "So, Grumpy, would you like to go and get a drink with me at the Three Broomsticks?"

After giving Hermione's hand a small squeeze, Severus smiled and nodded silently. She smiled back in understanding and they both left the classroom, hand in hand.


End file.
